FAQ'sTo Begin, it is important to
note that all our pups, even
those purchased with full
registration, will start out
with limited registration,
until such time as our
upgrade requirements have
been met. These
requirements are:1. Xrays
MUST be taken at age 12-15
months for Prelim grading,
and the finals must be taken
between 24-26 months of age.
Pups must pass their final
rating with a rating of OFA
Fair, Good or Excellent on
Hips, and have Normal
Elbows. We do not
guarantee against
Degenerative Joint Disease
(DJD), as noted in our
purchase contract.. 2. A
working Title from our Title Requirement
List
must also be achieved, prior
to being eligible for
Upgrade to Full Registration
status. 3.
ALL additional requirements
as described in your
Schraderhaus K9 purchase
contract with regard to
naming of pup, not selling
/transferring dog to another owner,
breeding the dog under 24
months of age
and/or before receiving
dog's required health clearances etc.
MUST all
be fully adhered to & complied with.

Q.
Do we need to take anything with
us to our veterinarian, at the
time we take our pup for xrays?

A. Yes.. You will need to be
prepared with the following
items when you go to your vet
for xrays...both for the first
prelims 12-15 mos, and also for yoru final
xrays at 24-26 months: 1.
You will need to
pre-fill out from the link
provided the OFFA.org form
Hip and Elbow submission form
for OFA.
Check.. and double check.. that
all information, full name, numbers and
dates are correct, because this
will be a reflection of proof
that
the dog shown on film is indeed
your dog which was purchased
from Schraderhaus K9,
and this information
MUST follow you through to
your OFA Ratings and upgrade
to full registration status.
NOTE:
Dog Name Changes
are not Allowed from that
on your contracts, and to do so
will void your Upgrade for
Full Registration. 2. You
mustprint
out andtake along the photo of this
sample xray,
and present it to the
veterinarian taking your
dog's hip films.
Inform your vet that
your breeder requires your
dog to be positioned on the
xray table as shown in these
views.
3.
You are also required toxray
the dog's elbows
at the above timelines as well.
Views for elbows should be
In flexed position...each elbow
xrayed separately.

Q.
What Identification do we need
to have our veterinarian insert
on each xray ID Plate, for
proper identification of our
dog?

A.
ID
Plate must include the
following7 pieces
of information,
entered onto the
ID plate by your veterinarian
for your dog, when xraying for
OFA / SV submission and to
comply with the terms of your
guarantee:

1. Registered name of the
dog EXACTLY AS IT APPEARS ON THE
REGISTRATION DOCUMENTS
2. AKC Registration number
of the dog being xrayed
3. Microchip Number of the
dog being xrayed
4a. Date of Birth for the
dog being xrayed
4b. Date xray was taken
5. Full name of Owner as
stated on AKC Registration
6. Veterinarian's name and
Business Address

Q.
Do we need to have this
information inserted on both the
12-15 month and the 24-26 month
timelines?

A.
Yes,
the above ID information is
required on both of your
dog's xrays, taken within
both timelines above, and
must be documentated on your
OFA certificates exactly as
listed on your AKC
registration and on our
contract..

Q.
Do these
xrays automatically get sent in
to OFA by our veterinarian?

A. No...You
are required to first have
the veterinarian provide me
with a copy of your dog's
xray,
to determine if the position is
acceptable and whether xrays should be
sent in for evaluation.
Your vet can send your xray to
me via email
attachment, or if it is
the old style 11 x 14 films, you
can take a photo of this with a
good quality smart phone or take
along your digital camera, and
send these to my email as astandard
photo
attachment. Once I see
the films, I will let you know
how to proceed from that point.
Under
no circumstances
are the films to be submitted to
OFA
prior to my being
able to view and approve them
first.

Q. Does the
Schraderhaus K9 guarantee
cover DJD (Degenerative
joint disease) ?A.
No..we do not cover this
under the terms of our
guarantee. Typically DJD is due to wear
and tear of the bones and
joints, such as can be
caused from jogging, jumping on and
off your bed, jumping in and
out of pick up trucks,
climbing stairs in your home
on a daily basis, jumping
off decks, and from
your pup having excessive
crate time as his bones and
joints are forming and
growing, etc. DJD is
considered overuse or injury
related and not genetic and
so therefore is not covered
under our guarantee.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Q. Does the
Schraderhaus K9 guarantee
cover PANO (Panosteitis) ?A.
No..we do not cover Pano
under the terms of our
guarantee. Pano is
considered a large breed
growth issue and many of
the large breed dogs
exhibit signs and
symptoms of Pano as they
are growing and
elongating their long
bones, most commonly
effrecting the bones of
the legs as they grow
and stretch in size and
length. This can
be painful, and it is
beneficial not to
overfeed your dog during
their growing years, or
feed them on a diet that
is high in carbs,
calories or is
overnutritionalized, as
this will contribute to
accellerated bone growth
and make the condition
worse for your dog.
Following our feeding
protocol can minimize
these effects and help
to prevent pano..
Dogs typically outgrow
this condition with no
ill effects if fed a
proper, lo protein, carb
and calorie diet and
keep them lean in body
condition during their
growing phase.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Q.
What is the reason you require
xrays to be done twice?

A.
This requirement allows us to
first be able to see what the
pup's hips and elbows look like,
genetically, before the pups are
exposed to heavy work or play,
or have become
injured in some way causing
inflammation to the bones with
resulting thickening of the
injured areas. True
genetic dysplasia will be
evident at this timeline.
We require this first xray to be
taken between the age of 12-15
months. This is called
your OFA Prelim.

The
second set of xrays, which will
be your final xrays and will
allow your pup to receive it's
rating for hips and elbows with
OFA, is required to be taken
between the age of 24-26 months.
NOTE:Pup owners who miss these
timelines are NO LONGER
ELIGIBLE for upgrade
to full registration.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Q.
What should we do if our pup
is injured in some way and
we are concerned that it may
cause problems with our pup
being able to pass it's hips
and elbow certifications?

A. IF
your pup does sustain an
injury, such as a torn ACL,
being crashed into by
another dog causing it to
cry out in pain or being
knocked to the ground, or
having a dislocaition or
subluxation of the hip bones
or elbows in some way, we
require you take your puppy to your
veterinarian at the time of
the injury being sustained,
and have this injury to your
pup documented by your
veterinarian in order to
prevent a failed rating
with OFA due to injury. In these
instances, and depending on
the type of injury and how
your pup had to be treated
for this injury, your vet
may be able to later submit
documentation of this being
the case, at the time the
hips and elbow xrays are
taken and submitted for
ratings. Often,
injuries can cause your
pup's bones to be inflammed
at the injured site, which
sends the body into repair
mode, but which may also
cause remodeling or
excessive calicification to
the injured site of the bone
or joints that have been
affected. This can cause
your pup to fail it's hip
and elbow ratings.
Without this documentation
of an injury and your
veterinarian submitting this
information at the time your
hips and elbows are
submitted for ratings, your
pup may not be able to pass
hip and elbow ratings with
OFA. This is not a
genetic problem, and a
unilateral HD or ED rating
(one side) is NOT covered
under our guarantee because
this is due to being
injured, coupled with the
natural process of the
body's natural way of
repairing an injured bone
and it's surrounding area.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Q.
We have purchased our pup
only with Limited
Registration. Do we
still have to xray our puppy
as required here?

A.
No, owner's pups
sold with
limited registration status
are not required to xray
your pups except as pertains
to our replacement guarantee
policy, in which case the
timelines and guidelines as
shown in this FAQ
informationalmust have
been followed, as stated
herein.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Q.
Why do you require the
dogs are NOT BRED before age 2 years?A.
This requirement is twofold.
First,
because we believe very strongly that
these large breed dogs are not
fully mature, or fully grown
themselves until they are at least age 2
yrs. Some even take
longer. We don't want our
pups bred... and to be expected to
raise a litter... before they
themselves are fully grown. This
takes nutrients from your own
dog's fulfillment of growth
potential, in
order for her to nourish her
upcoming litter.
Secondly, because breeding the
dog before age 2 yrs can cause
you to receive a less than
desirable hip rating, due to
changes in the hips and joints
often caused from early
pregnancy and whelping. In
addition, breeding without
having had health screenings
completed for hips and elbows
and to know with certainty that the breeding pair
have received breedable hip & elbow ratings, is not conducive
to producing offspring which
will improve the breed in
general.
Breeding your dog before
age 24 months and/or
before receiving your
hip and elbow passing
ratings from OFA VOIDS
your guarantee and
eligibility for upgrade
to Full Registration.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Q.
What steps must we follow when
it's time for my pup to get it's
first set of xrays taken?

A.
We require that you contact us
first by email, at least two weeks ahead
of the time you are ready to do
your xrays, to let us know you
are preparing to schedule your pup's
xray films,
and so we can go over the
procedure with you before you go
with your pup to your vet
clinic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Q. What should we do if our female pup comes
into heat during this required
timeline?

A. Owner
of pup
MUST Call Me
to
notify me if she comes into heat
just prior to or at the 12-15 month, or
24-26 month timelines.
Once your female begins to cycle
with her heats, you must
remember tomark
down your female's heat cycles
on your calendar, and keep
track of them.
This will help you
anticipate when she will
be due to come into heat
for each of her cycles,
and will help you
anticipate her next heat
around the xray deadline
timeline.

Q. What happens if we
may be outside the required timeline?

A.
PROVIDED you have emailed me
to notify me she is in heat,
notating her start of heat
date
(notification by phone IS
NOT ACCEPTABLE NOTIFICATION
THAT YOUR DOG IS IN HEAT) at... or just prior to... the
required timelines for xrays,
you will be granted a short
extention for your timeline,
based on information you as
the dog's owner are responsible to know,
and based on you keeping track of
her previous heats. We
will then have you schedule your
first xray right in between her
last and next heat cycle, for
instance, if her first heat is
at around 9 months, then she
will come into heat roughly
again at 14-15 months. So
to comply with the timeline,
you should schedule her xrays
for approx. age 12-13
months. OR...if her
first heat is say 11 months, we
would adjust the timeline
accordingly to be right in
between this heat and her next
heat but in most cases you are
still within the timeline to
comply with the max of 15
month age for her first
prelims. Some females start
their first cycle at 7 or 8
months.. these are the ones that
may need to have an extension,
especially for the first prelim
xray, since her second heat
cycle will fall at the
approximate time she will be
needing to have that first set
taken, betewen 12-15 months.

Q.
Is it OK for us to take H & E
xrays while our female is in
heat?

A. NO,
Absolutely Not.
During the time your
female is in heat, the
hormones change as
dictated by nature, as
part of the process of
preparing her for a
possible pregnancy, and
thus, make her hips very
supple, moveable and
lax, in the event she
does become pregnant and
to allow her to expell
puppies through the
pelvis. This is
NOT a good time to be
xraying, as they may
possibly fail due to
"subluxation", which is
loose joints or laxisity
of joints. We
require xrays be doneeither
6 weeks
before coming in
heat,or6
weeks
after they are fully out
of heat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Q. How long is a
female's heat cycle?

A.
A typical, normal heat cycle
lasts for about 21 days.
There are many, many
varianbles from this
timeline, depending on a
multitude of causes and genetic
female traits within familial
lines. Often young canine females,
just like human
adolescent females,
take some time to establish what will
be, for them, their normal
cycles.

Q.Will
there be any signs that we might
watch for, to let us know our
female is preparing to come into
heat?

A.
Yes.. Typically females will
begin to furiously blow their
coats anywhere from 45 days
before coming into heat, and up
to almost when they are coming
into heat. This springing of
their entire coat is dictated by
their hormonal changes, in
preparation for them to begin
their heat cycle.
(See photos below)

Showing dog with her
normal coat, prior to
this young dog's heat
cycles beginning.
Nice dark pigment,
undercoat is not at this
time very visible.

Preparing to blow
coat..notice undercoat
beginning to lift and
dog becomming lighter in
color..even on the legs.

This is the dog in the
process of blowing coat.
While this can also be a
normal process for all
GSD's,
it often signals the
hormonal change for
coming into heat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Q. What happens if our
female is accidentally (or on
purpose!) bred & becomes
pregnant before 2 years of age?

A.
If your female pup is bred and
becomes pregnant, this
automatically Voids your
guarantee, you will no
longer be eligible for the Full
Registration upgrade.Our belief is very strong that
our puppies are not yet fully
grown, mentally or physically,
before 2 years of age, needfing
to grow up themselves to become
a well rounded adult. We do not
believe it in our pups best
interest to whelp before the age
of 2 years, nor are they able to sufficiently
provide for a litter of new
babies. Additionally, our
pups... when forced to become
mothers at this early age.... are
not themselves fully grown /
mature, and instead of providing
their own bodies the nutrition
they need for their own proper
growth and development during this
important growing period for
themselves, they are now forced
to provide this instead to their
growing puppies. Pregnancy
and whelping can also change the
quality and proper developement
of the hips, causing laxisity
which may prevent your dog from
passing it's OFA ratings.
Owners who have "ooops litters"
are not owners we want to
provide full registration to on
our puppies. We view it no
differently than protecting your
young teenage daughter from an
unwanted early pregnancy...As
your pup's owner,
It is up to you to insure that
an unwanted early pregnancy does
not happen to your pup.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Continue below
for final upgrade procedures...

Self exercise is
good for your pup..
Forced exercise is
not.That means
your pup can run and
play at his own
leisure, and be able
to stop and rest
when he's tired.
We do not ever
recommend exercising
him by jogging, even
for short periods,
on long runs or
walks, as the
concussion caused
from the pounding to
the soft forming
bones and joints is
detrimental and can
cause permanent
damage to newly
forming bones before
they are calcified
and hardened.
There is no
pre-determined set
age rule for this,
but as
a minimum guideline,
at least until
he reaches 18+
months of age. (I
prefer not to
subject them to this
until after they are
24 months and have
received their hip
and elbow
certification),
after giving their
bones and joints
sufficient time to
grow properly and to
calcify into harder
bone. Some
stimulation to the
bone/ joint is
necessary and
contributes to
helping bones to
grow and to
stimulate new
formatioin of bone
in your growing pup.
Letting the pup
run and play as he
plays and rests
throughout the day will be
all that is needed
to help your puppy grow as
nature intended,
along with providing
your pup a healthy,
lean and balanced diet of
course.

What to do... after you have received
your passing ratings from OFA?

Q.
Once we have xrayed our pup, and
have received our passing certification
for hips & elbows from OFA,
how do we proceed for upgrading
our Limited registration for our
dog we purchased with FULL
Registraton status?

A.
Once you have received your OFA
Certificate with passing
ratings, you will need to send
me the following:

1.
TheAKC upgrade form which
I have included here as a
link for you to download the
form, requesting change from
limited to full
registration from AKC.
Click at right for formApplication
to Revoke Limited Status

This form will need to be
mailed to meas an
original,
withoriginal signature
from you...so download
it, print it out, and fill
in your partas
dog owner only.

Make sure you fill in only
your dog owner part,NOTthe
breeder/ owner of the
litter part. The
breeder part, along with the
date the change takes
effect, is for me, as the
breeder, to fill out.
Send
the above to me, together with

2.OFA
copiesof the hip and elbow ratings
from OFA, and

3.theORIGINALLimited Registration Papers
from AKC...

along with

4.
yourcheck
for $25.00 payable to AKC,
(for
your new Full Registration
certificate)
and 5.
withyour
dog's AKC # written on the
top
of your check.
Jean Schrader /
Schraderhaus K9